


Spider-gwen:Far Fae Home

by Rhys1812



Category: Marvel (Comics), Spider-Gwen (Comics)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-10-31 15:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17852057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhys1812/pseuds/Rhys1812
Summary: Gwen Stacy is New York born and bred but when a music scholarship beckons, she ups sticks to move across the pond. The brand new culture (and accents) of Glasgow take some getting used to but meeting nerdy and shy research scientist Peter Parker sure does help. When he offers to show her his lab though, that's when Gwen's life really gets turned upside down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on AO3 and my first Spider-Gwen fic.  
> I live in Glasgow so it seemed a fun place to set this.  
> Hame is a Scots way of saying home so it seemed a perfect word to use in the title.  
> Enjoy!

Glasgow I love you but you guys are seriously tough to understand. It took me a least a month of living here before I felt even vaguely confident in knowing what someone had just said and another month after that before I was able to properly chat to people. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little but still. That aside though, this place is the best. Not too big or too busy and not too small and quiet either. You were never a million miles away from things you could want (except dad but video calls at least helped with that). The only problem I had was that I was still all alone in a city with no one to really hangout with. 

I’d only signed up to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for a joke. I’d like the sound of the name and secretly hoped it was some kind of academy for turning you into a princess (FYI it is not). As it was my other options had all fallen through until a figurative owl had arrived telling me that I’d been accepted to study music at one of Scotland’s most prestigious schools. Go Gwen! Also, thinking of Harry Potter, one of the other Colleges/Universities in Glasgow totally looks like Hogwarts. I definitely need to visit it. If I could dress up for it so much the better. 

I’d been worried that the place would be too pretentious but it was actually great. The syllabus is challenging but not to the point I’m tearing my hair out and everyone seems kinda cool. I’m just not, you know, clicking with anyone. I tried going a few nights out with some of the other students but it was all kinda dull. I know the standard student thing is to go out drinking, then clubbing, make ou with some random and invite them back to your flat but honestly that just doesn’t appeal. Not the kind of clubs we went to anyway. All bass not enough drum. 

So here I was, engaging in my second favourite pastime of just wandering around the city. From what I’d read there wasn’t really much to it until the industrial revolution about three hundred years ago when larger and grander buildings suddenly sprung up to deal with the increased demand for everything coming through the city. It had changed a bit since then but some of the buildings remained. There was nothing in the way of skyscrapers, some tall office buildings but nothing that would stand out in New York. I liked the grid system of the city centre, that actually did remind me of home. I think this had caused Glasgow to double as an American city more than once in film. 

I especially liked exploring the alleyways in the centre of the city. Some of them had great murals and street art in them, some has big as the buildings around them. I was stood in front of one with a giant woman peering down through a magnifying glass at passers by when I heard the unmistakable shuttering of a camera behind me. Turning I saw a young man snapping away happily at yours truly. 

“Can I help you?” I said, sounding as unhelpful as I could. 

“Erm sorry, you were just in the perfect position. Like, she was examining you and you were examining her. I just had to take the shot. I’m Peter by the way.” He said, approaching me and extending a hand. 

He was English as far as I could tell and looked younger than I first thought, probably about my age. He was lanky but not too tall though that could be because he was hunched up, like he was permanently flinching. His hair was a sandy brown and he wore a keen if nervous expression. 

I accepted his hand, “Gwen.” I said.

“Nice to meet you Gwe-oh wow that’s an amazing tattoo!” He said, catching site of my arm. 

Yeah...so that was my absolute favourite pastime. I’d been bored and found a cool tattoo shop whilst walking in the west end. A little voice inside my head said, “what the hell?”. My first one was a little spider web with a tiny spider hanging from it. I got it on my upper left arm. I’ve always liked spiders since I was a girl and it was small enough to go unnoticed if I wore a t-shirt or something so it wouldn’t freak dad out or anything. 

It did not stay that way. 

Over the next couple of months I kept adding to it. More webbing, more spiders. When I was playing the drums, doing homework or walking I was doodling more designs. I didn’t consider myself an artist in any real sense but I had to say my tats wer bitchin. I loved them but was still uncomfortable with people, especially guys, commenting on them. I’d slapped away more than a few pawing hands trying to grab my arm to get a closer look. 

So here I was with a complete stranger who had been taking my picture and who was now discussing my body in a dark alley in a city I had only lived in for a few months. To say I was on edge was an understatement. But he felt so...harmless. Like if I called him out on his creepiness he’d spend the next thirty minutes either apologising or crying. I decided to risk it. 

“Listen, Petey.”

“Peter.” He corrected. 

“Whatever. I don’t know if you’ve spoken to a lot of women before but this kind of behaviour is kinda creepy. The photographing and whatnot.” I said, as diplomatically as I could. 

His face turned a bright red and I honestly did think he would cry for a moment there. 

“I am so so sorry. I didn’t mean to be. I just saw you there and it was a really perfect shot and the tattoo is really cool and I really like spiders too and-“ He babbled. 

“Okay, it’s okay.” I said, holding my hands up to get him to stop. “Just, you know, think before you act or speak dude.”

“Okay.” He said quietly, looking like a puppy that had just been scolded. Jeez this was tough. 

“Thank you for the compliment though. Most people see the tattoo and either try and grab it or tell me how disgusting it is.” 

“Oh no, like I say I really like spiders too. I’m actually doing my thesis on them.” Peter said eagerly. 

“Oh you’re a zoologist?” I asked, my interest piqued. 

“Erm, more geneticist actually.” He looked around nervously. “It’s actually pretty interesting. We could goforadrinkandtalkaboutit?” He said, rattling off the last part at near light speed.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, you move quickly Petey. Ok, I’m not doing anything at the moment. A drink it is.”

I knew this was probably not a smart idea, and my police Captain of a dad would be shouting at me for taking such a risk but to be honest I could do with some human company for a change. 

“Great, there’s a bar a couple of streets over, you’ll love it I promise.” Peter said, leading the way, with me a step behind as he talked at length about his research. He only occasionally stopped to draw breath.


	2. Chapter 2

The place he took seemed to be in a basement judging by the stairs we needed to take down from the street to get in but once inside I instantly fell in love with the place. It was so cool! It looked like how I imagined old speakeasies to look, all low ceilings, dingy lighting and battered leather sofas. There were even a couple of pool tables there. I’d never been much of a player myself but I was tempted to try and grab a game later.   
Peter led us to the bar and the woman behind it approached him. 

“Would you like-“ he started. 

“I’ll get my own thanks.” I said. I didn’t want to give the guy ideas that this was a date. 

“Oh, okay. Erm a pint of St. Anne’s please?” He said to the bar woman, who nodded and started to pour this dark orange drink from one of the taps. She turned and looked at me. 

“And for you?” She said. 

“The same please.” Hey, if it was good enough for him it was good enough for me. Maybe it was the only drink in the place that wasn’t poisonous or something. She poured a pint for me and we went and found a seat on one of the sofas. 

“So Petey-“ I started. 

“Peter.” He interrupted. 

“Whatever. You’re doing research on spiders. How’s that going?”

“Well I think. It’s less spiders themselves but their genetic code and how to use some of their attributes.” He said, taking a sip of his drink. 

“Such as?” I prompted. I was interested but not really ‘wowed’ yet. 

“Like implanting the silk production genes into bacteria so we can get an almost unlimited supply of spider silk. Did you know that for its thickness it’s stronger tha-“ 

“Than steel.” I finished for him. “That’s pretty cool I guess. Anything else? No plans to give people four extra arms?” 

“No, no, nothing like that.” He said.   
“That’s a shame, think what a girl could do with those.” I sighed, placing my chin on my hands, staring at him intently as he nearly sprayed me with his drink, spluttering and choking away.

“I mean for playing the drums, pervert.” Laughing I passed him some tissues from my bag. Whilst there I pulled out my drum sticks. 

“See? Gwen Stacy, drummer and percussionist extraordinaire.” 

“Wow, I wouldn’t have pegged you for a drummer. I mean you look more like a lead singer or something.” He said, wiping himself down with the tissues. 

“And be out there having to be the face of the band, dealing with people and all that shit? Ugh, no thanks. I’ll be hanging out at the back hitting things like a sane person. Besides I can’t sing a note in tune.” 

“Oh, I think you’d look good up on stage like that. I mean, you look good now...shit.”   
This time it was my turn to nearly spit my drink out. I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks. “Wow, you sure know all the moves. I’m beginning to think this meek and innocent schtick is an act.”

He held his hands up protesting, “I really am this meek and innocent. I also suck at talking to women. And people in general. I’m,” he looked around and leaned in closer whispering conspiratorially, “I’m a bit of a nerd.” 

I giggled. Careful Gwendolyn, giggling leads to flirting, leads to coupling, leads to mess. 

“Yeah, I can believe that Petey.” I said, straightening up a bit. 

“Peter.” He corrected. 

“I’m trying to give you a perfectly good nickname here my dude. I say go with it.”

“No, it’s just...my dad used to call me Petey.” He said sadly.

I grimaced. “Bad relationship?” I asked. 

“No, at least I don’t think so. He died when I was young. My mum too.”

I froze. Shit. Bravo Gwen. Foot meet mouth. “Oh my gosh, Peter I’m so sorry. Like...fuck dude.” Was all I could say. 

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. I was mostly raised by my aunt May and uncle Ben. They live down in York.” He said, somewhat cheerfully but those big puppy dog eyes looked wistful and sad. 

“I understand. My mom died a few years ago. Cancer. It’s just me and my dad now.” I paused, taking a deep breath. “And then I left him in New York all by himself so I could come bang drums.” 

I knew my dad would give me grief if he ever heard me talking like that. He was “so so proud and delighted” about me coming here but still, I worried about him. He’d be throwing himself into work like he always did. 

“Gwen, are you ok? You kinda zoned out for a moment there.” I heard Peter saying. 

“Peachy keen!” I said. “That’s something you guys say over here right?”

He laughed, “Not outside of a Disney film.”

Gasping, I held my hand to my chest with mock indignation, “are you saying Mary Poppins lied to me?” 

“She did. Also Dick Van Dyke isn’t really a cockney. But did you know he plays the old guy in the bank as well as Bert?” 

“I did indeed know this. Disney films are my life, dude.” 

He grinned. Yay! I was making a friend. 

“There’s a cinema up the road that’s showing the new Pixar film if you’re interested...” he started. 

“Sorry, Peter. I should be getting back home after this.” I said, draining the last of my drink. If nothing else the guy knew his beer. He looked crestfallen so I quickly followed with, “but maybe we can catch it tomorrow or something?”

If he were an actual puppy his tail would be wagging right now, the way he instantly perked up. “You’d like to see me again?” 

“Hang out Peter, just hang out ok?” I said. I liked the guy but I didn’t want to give him hope that something might happen. I’d lost too many male friends who’d later claim I’d “friend zoned” them. Fuckers. 

He smiled, actually seeming more relieved than anything. “Yeah, that would be great. What’s your number?” He said, pulling out his phone. 

I gave it to him, grabbing his as well. He’d text me the details and film times tomorrow or whenever. 

“Catch you later, dude.” I said, grabbing my stuff and heading for the exit.   
“See you tomorrow.” He called out. 

I should have felt embarrassed about that but I actually felt kinda good, y’know? I was actually interacting with another human being. 

Just before I stepped outside, in noticed a flyer up on the wall. It was a photo of a woman, who could easily play a live action version of Merida (please don’t Disney, no more remakes) with her bright red curly hair, seemingly yelling into a microphone. Above the picture were the words “wanted, musicians to join a band ‘The Mary-Janes’. Email Mary-Jane for more details.” I had to admire her balls for naming the band after herself so I made a note of the email address. No harm in joining the band of a potential ego maniac right?


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t until after the first month of hanging out that Peter said the words that every girl longs to hear. 

“Did you fancy coming to see my lab?” 

“Fuck yes!” I said, probably a bit too enthusiastically. “I mean, yeah that would be cool I guess.” Smooth, Gwen, smooth. 

“Erm, well the lead researcher is away tomorrow and we’re not planning on doing much so I thought it might be nice to give you a little tour.” Peter said, wringing his hands awkwardly. 

I knew Peter well enough to know he only did this when he was nervous, though I guess most people only did it when they were nervous. Anyway.   
“Are you sure this is ok?” I asked. I really didn’t want him getting into trouble on my account. 

“Yeah, we just can’t touch anything or break anything.” He said. 

“Well there goes my plans of chucking a computer through a window.” 

Peter looked at me like his head was about to explode, eyes bulging and mouth opening and closing without making a noise. 

“Dude, I’m kidding. I’ll be good as gold. Ooh! Do I get to wear a lab coat? And carry a clipboard?” I asked, practically bouncing up and down. 

“Yes to the lab coat, no to the clipboard.” He said, sighing as if he was already regretting this decision. “Look, it’ll probably be really boring for you. Just a load of machines not really doing much. But you can see the spiders at least.” 

He knew how to sweet talk a girl. 

“It’ll be great I’m sure.” I said reassuringly. I knew Peter was nervous but I was honestly excited. If I hadn’t have gotten so into music I would have gone down He science route. Heck, I even understood like a good 75% of the stuff Peter talked about in regards to his thesis. 

Biology wasn’t really my thing though. Now Chemistry, that was a different story. That I was utterly fantastic at.   
Hey, a girl doesn’t have to be a one dimensional drum machine. She can have layers. 

Peter smiled, I’d been working on building his confidence up and as a result he smiled a lot more. It was cute, definitely an improvement on his usual deer in the headlights look.

“I’ll tell you what, if there are any cute girls at the band audition I’ll get their number for you. Promise.” 

He laughed, we both knew who I was talking about. He’d become a bit smitten when he’d seen the picture of Mary-Jane on the flyer and would often ask me when I’d be meeting her. After no response for three weeks I’d given up hope that either of us would meet this Scottish warrior princess but finally she got back to me and organised a meet up/audition two days from now. The email was nothing like I expected. I thought that Mary-Jane would be kurt and self absorbed in her email but she was anything but! Apologising for the late reply, thanking me for contacting her and linking me to a couple of bands whose stuff she wanted the band to sound like, “angry but melodic girl punk”. Perfect for me, it described 76.5% of my music library, the rest of course being Disney music. So far the band had her as lead singer and a bassist (her room mate) so they were in desperate need for a drummer and some guitarists. They had a rehearsal area with a kit that I could borrow but I’d be looking to move my own kit there if I was successful. First things first though. I had a lab to see!

I arranged to meet Peter outside his lab building so that he could get me inside. I arrived to the main university campus via the subway system. It’s literally just a oval of tube stops, so much easier than New York’s to navigate but not as many place to go to on it. 

Walking up to Peter’s lab I saw the main campus building looming over us. It really did look like somewhere you could study the wonder arts of witchcraft and wizardry. I’d get a picture there later, maybe get Peter to take one after we were done. He’d shown me some more of his photos (I let him keep the one of me, it did look really cool) and the boy had talent. If he didn’t make it as a scientist he’d definitely make it as some kind of photographer. He was definitely a pretty cool person to be friends with. 

I rounded the corner and saw him pacing on the steps leading to a tall ugly building. My heart sank a bit, if this was in New York this place would be all shiny glass and steel. Instead it looked like someone had dumped some old concret and rocks into a rectangular pile, then added some windows as an afterthought. He must have seen my expression as I approached him as he immediately gestured towards it.

“Yeah it’s not the prettiest is it? Most of the inside isn’t much better but at least my bit of it is nice.” He said, leading me inside. 

I was signed in at the front security office, with a stern looking security guard looking on. I tried smiling at him but this only made him scowl more. So much for my natural charm. 

“He seems nice.” I said as we entered the elevator. Peter grunted as he pressed the button for our floor, number 10 I noted, near the top. I’d get some nice views of the city with the added bonus of not being able to see this dung heap of a building. 

We exited the elevator and walked the short distance to the door to the lab. Peter unlocked it and beckoned me to go in. I walked past him then stood at the doorway in awe. 

This place was a-ma-zing! 

The front part of the room was dedicated to desks in various states of tidiness, coffee mugs and paperwork littering most of them. Beyond that was a frosted glass partition dividing the room, separatingit from the lab equipment I’d assume. I could just make out a large tank filled with what looked like webs. No prizes for guessing what was in there then! 

“Can I go see them?” I said, probably a bit more eagerly than was healthy. 

“In a bit I’ve just got to check and see if anyone else is here.” He said, looking around nervously. 

“I am okay to be here right? I’m not going to get you into trouble or anything?” I said. 

“It should be fine. There’s just one of my lab mates that can be a little bit...particular about who is or isn’t allowed in here.” He said. “Thankfully she shouldn’t be in today.” 

“No problem. It’ll be our dirty little secret.” I shady, winking at him. 

Sighing he started showing me around. He showed me his desk and spoke about what they’d actually done to the spiders: dna insertion with viruses, selective breeding and some good old fashion radiation to induce mutation. 

“It’s all cutting edge stuff. We’re trying to get the strongest, most adaptable spiders so we can then sequence the more useful traits into other things.”

“Like what? Mice? You’re going to have little eight legged rodents running around?” I said, shuddering slightly. 

“No, nothing like that. Bacteria mostly. Having something that can multiply quickly to produce the silk would be fantastic. In fact we’re nearly at that st-“ he stopped as he heard he door to the lab opening. “Shit that’s Liv. Quick hide!” He squeaked, pushing me through a door in the glass partition. “Don’t touch anything!” He said before closing the door behind him. “Hi Olivia.” I heard his muffled voice say. 

I tried to pay attention to the conversation but I was more concerned with staying unseen. I crept around the back of the spider tank. It was filled with webbing but I couldn’t see that many spiders. They all looked fairly average if I’m honest. I was expecting giant critters with glowing lines and whatnot on them but they were all about the size of my palm and a kind of dullish brown. Reality could be so disappointing. Still they were still cool though. I leaned in to get a closer look, wondering how many there actually were in there when I noticed that the lid of the tank was slightly open. Did no one teach these college folk health and safety?

I went to close it when a pair of legs poked their way out of the gap. A pair was soon followed by six others as one of the spiders made a bid for freedom. 

“Shit. Go back in dude.” I whispered, urging the escapee back inside. Unsurprisingly it ignored me and continued to crawl down the tank. Crap, I didn’t want a piece of Peter’s prized research to get away. Slowly so as not to scare it I cuppedit into my hands. It’s movements quickened as it knew it was trapped. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” I said, half to it half to myself. The voices in the other part of the lab were getting louder and sounded like they were arguing. Suddenly the door burst open, with an angry looking woman coming storming in. She was tall, with coke bottle-esque glasses and a veritable tangle of black curly hair sticking out from the back of her head. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” She all but screamed at me. 

Before I could explain what had happened, the spider chose that moment to bite down hard on my hand.


End file.
